BUILDING ENERGETIC SPACES.

[MacMillan] Will Day

[Polly Addison] Mike Homner

[Hand-Rudy] Davis Arney, Margie Criner

[McMahon] Arch11, Workshop 8, Pyatt Studio, HMH Architecture + Interiors, Renée del Gaudio Architecture, Sopher Sparn Architects, Housefish

Curatorial statement: 

The month of September in the Boulder architecture world is synonymous to the ‘Month of Modern’ (MoM) as coined by local architecture firm, HMH Architecture + Interiors. Established in 2014, this month serves as a “celebration of architecture, design, lifestyle, art, and culture,” as expressed by MoM’s mission statement. In response to these creative causes for celebration, the visual arts curator at the Dairy Arts Center, Jessica Kooiman Parker, has developed an exhibition titled ‘Modern Habitat’

The work on view is inherently a self-reflection on the artists’ individual values and beliefs within their work and home life, chasing multiple viewpoints, highlighting failures, or challenging affluent domesticity. The exhibitions consider the constant, yet hard to define way in which we build our personal spaces – whether we seek help from others to design and build a structure, or simply relish our ability to acquire objects to fill our space. We build our homes with the desire for stability, but with it comes the complexities, anxieties, and contradictions of contemporary life.

As an ode to this month of celebration, the title of the show inherently encompasses the sensation that is modern architecture; But more broadly, it houses even deeper human notions and emotion such as memory, reflection, even nostalgia and our own existence within spaces. For what would modern life look life and how would it differ without the architectural structures that literally and figuratively house our lives? And what if we didn’t have any home at all? The exhibition uses the fabulousness that is MoM as a platform to invite a perspective that expands beyond modern architecture and addresses the phenomenon of homelessness. Particularly within the Boulder County area with a series of photographs by Mike Homner and a display inviting visitors to learn more about the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFFA).

Human connection to spaces has informed the latest works created by former architect-turned-modern painter, Will Day. His new pieces, made special for this show, reveal his latest creative endeavor of the de-construction of his current art practice. He is embracing the value of ‘the line’ as a reference to and reflection of his days as an architect. As he shifts from a painting practice previously tailored to the narratives of his clients, Day now embraces the storytelling of his own creative spirit. 

This ‘remodeling’ of sorts has manifested itself in the form of a newly placed emphasis upon process as opposed to final product. The pieces titled ‘Red Lines’ and ‘Red Lines II’, each product of Day’s method for brainstorming as one might do in a sketchbook, became the initial “footprint” (for the architecturally inclined) which laid the foundation for his other succeedingly new works. Day’s free-handed motion, abstracted forms and shapes, even his color choices – namely his use of red, each communicate an overtly Picasso-inspired flare.